For certain activities it is advisable for the participant to wear a protective garment to avoid injury in the case of accident. An example of this is in the riding of a motorcycle where a jacket of strong leather material is of great benefit in protecting the rider in the event that the motorcycle is capsized and the rider makes contact with pavement or other surface. Injury from sliding along the pavement thus often is avoided. Such a jacket also may be desirable for sports such as skiing where again the participant may be caused to slide along the surface which could cause burns or other injury.
In warm weather a leather jacket of conventional construction may become almost unbearably hot. This discourages the wearing of the jackets so that protection is lost. An effective way of alleviating this condition is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,715, which relates to a protective garment, such as a jacket, having air inlet openings in the front and discharge openings in the back. Closures, such as zippers, are provided for in these openings, so that in warm weather they may be opened to allow air to circulate through the jacket for cooling the torso of the wearer of the jacket.
Although the garment of U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,715 provides a very efficient means for ventilating the torso region, the arms have remained confined within the leather material of the garment and have had no relief from cooling air. Thus, less than the total space within the garment has been cooled and optimum comfort has not been achieved.